Machine for forming and tempering paragon ribs for umbrellas



Patented Mar. 30, I880.

O; H. MORGAN. Machine for Forming and Tampering Paragon-Ribs for Umbrellas. N0. 225 43 UNITED STATES PATENT .OFFICE.

CHARLES H. MORGAN, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

MACHINE FOR FORMING AND TEMPERING PARAGON RIBS FOR UMBRELLAS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 225,943, dated March 30, 1880,

Application filed July 14, 1879.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHAS. H. MORGAN, of Worcester, county of Worcester, and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Machines for Forming and Tempering Paragon Ribs for Ulnbrellas of which the following description, in connect-ion with the accompanying drawings, is a specification.

This invention relates to a machine for heating, grooving or fianging, and tempering metallic strips for umbrella-ribs, stretchers, 8tc.; and the invention is aimed chiefly to that improvement in the art or method of forming umbrella-ribs which consists in successively and continuously heating, grooving or flanging, hardening, and tempering a metal strip, and then preferably leading or drawing the said strip from the tempering-bath in astraight line, in order that it may set or cool while straight, and also in mechanism for carrying out this process, and for automatically punching holes in the grooved strip and cutting it into suitable lengths for ribs or stretcher-s.

In the manufacture of wire, it has been usual to heat, harden, and temper it by a continuous operation, as in United States Patent No. 31,361, February 5, 1861.

In the practical manufacture of so-called paragon ribs, as now commonly practiced, the metal, when cold, is rolled flat, then, while yet cold, is flanged between rollers, after which it is cut up into proper lengths for ribs or stretchers, which are punched and placed in a muffle and heated to redness. When heated the ribs are taken out by hand operation and quenched in an oil-bath to harden them, after which, by another operation, they are tempered. This common process is very slow and expensive. The wire has to be handled a number of times, and the ribs, when being finished, as well as when finished, are apt to be bent or sprung out of a true straight line.

It has been described, but not practiced so far as I have everknown, that this cold grooved wire may be subsequently heated and tempered by continuous processes; but this, in my judgment, would not be practical, as the grooved strip rolled cold would, by a subsequent heatingoperation, be distorted or thrown out of true shape.

By my process the hot metallic strip has its grooved strip is maintained, except as it is' brought or pinched together to punch it.

In this myinvention I have provided a furnace or heating apparatus to heat the strip as it is unwound from a suitable reel, and then, while yet hot, the strip is grooved or flanged, after which it is conducted into and through the hardening-bath of oil or water, thence in and through the tempering-bath of lead or oil and to and between rollers, which assist the flanged wire in its movements through the machine, the wire being led from the tempering-bath under more or less strain, and retained in a straight line for such a distance or for such length of time as will permit it to cool to such an extent that the grooved material will, in its normal condition, possess a tendency to maintain itself straight. This cooling or setting of the metal in a straight line is very essential, for the normal tendency of the rib will ever thereafter be to remain in a straight line. y

In this my apparatus I have arranged a punch-and-die or punching mechanism to antomatically punch the grooved or flanged strip just as it passes from the grooving-rollers; and 1 have also provided cutting mechanism by which to automatically sever the tempered and cooled strip into proper lengths for umbrella ribs or stretche-rs, thereby producing by a continuous operation not only tempered grooved ribs, but also tempered grooved and punched ribs.

In common practice the short pieces forming the ribs have been handled singly when being punched.

Figure 1 is a top view of a machine for heating, grooving, hardening, and tempering a metal strip in accordance with my method;

Fig. 2, a section thereof; Fig. 3, a detail of 5 one of the cams for moving the cross-head upon which the punch-and-die mechanism is mounted Fig. 4., a detail of the punch and die in the act of punching the grooved strip; Figs; 5 and 6, sections thereof on the dotted lines, Fig. 4; Fig. 7, a sectional detail on the dotted line as, Fig. 2; Fig. 8, a top .view of the ICC cutting or severing devices; Fi 9, a section thereof on the dotted line, Fig. 8; Fig. 10, a piece of grooved rib material, compressed at its sides and punched, the dotted lines 3 indicating where it will be cut. Fig. 11 is a modification of the punch mechanism, and Fig. 12 a side view of one of the under or ribbed carrying-rollers.

The flat metallic strip a, Fig.2, in coil form, and of suitable size, is conducted from the reel or other holder, 1), through the tube 0 in the metallic bath 0, kept hot by a proper furnace at 0 all as usual. The said strip, heated in the batch c to, say, a cherry-red heat, is passed between the grooving or flanging rollers 01 e, the latter being provided with an annular pro jection and the former with a corresponding groove, the said groove and projection operating upon opposite faces of the strip to give it the shape required for the flanged or grooved rib.

Immediately in jl'o n ti of the said grooving mechanism or rollers I have placed blccks or side pieces, 2 2, which act as guides for the grooved strip, the said blocks being attached to a cross-head, 71/.

The punch and die f 9 (see Figs. 4, and 5) are carried by levers 3 4, (shown as pivoted upon the blocks 2,) these levers being actuated, as herein shown, through pins 5 6, held by the said levers, the said pins entering camgrooves in a cam-plate, h". (See Fig. 4.)

The die 9 (see Fig. 5) has at its end a hole to receive the punch f, the ends of the punch and die, before punching the grooved or flanged strip, acting to compress or pinch the two walls of the said grooved strip substantially together at the center of the strip, as shown in Fig. 10, after which further movement of the punch f causes it to punch a hole in the strip, as at 7, through the pinched or compressed part thereof, the punch, during said operation, traveling with the strip.

The cross-head, to which the blocks 2 and punch and die carrying levers are attached, has imparted to it a reciprocating motion by means of grooved cams on a shaft, 'i, one of said cams being shown in detail, Fig. 3, the said cams moving the cross-head and punch and die forward at substantially the speed at which the strip is fed forward, the punch and die, during the backward and forward motion of the cross-head, acting to punch the grooved strip at determined intervals, producing holes, by which the ribs and stretchers are held in position when made up into umbrellas.

The metal strip, having been grooved and punched, is next conducted through the hardening-bath j, in which, as herein shown, I have placed a trough-like guide, 10, in connection with which I may employ a rotary pump, It, or other proper motor for the oil or water in the said bath, in order that thestrip passing through the guide 10 may be immersed or subjected to the action of the oil or water or other usual liquid and be hardened. After The strip being tempered is led from the tempering-bath to and between one or more pairs of carrying-rollers, m m n n, on shafts m m a if. The rollers m a have annular grooves, and those m n" projections or ribs of proper shape and length to adapt them to enter between the sides of, engage, and carry forward the flanged strip, which at that time has been pinched or compressed together at intervals by the shoulders of the punch and die, said shoulders being the compressing mechanism. The speed or rate of motion of these carrying-rollers is about one per cent. faster than the speed of the grooving-rollers d e, to insure that the said carrying rollers held, under strain, the strip being punched, hardened, tempered, and cooled, so as to keep it taut and straight, thereby establishing in the grooved strip such a normal condition of its fiber or molecules that the tendency of the ribs cut from the said cooled strip will always be to remain straight or to assume a straightline position when crooked. These carryingrollers will be located at a greater or less distance from the tempering-bath 0, according to the means employed for cooling the said grooved or flanged strip, or according to whether the said strip is cooled by the atmosphere in its natural state, or by a blast of air, or by water allowed to flow upon the said strip while it is passing through, preferably, a straight tube.

As before stated, the tendency of the ribs to always remain straight and true depends upon the strip being cooled in a true straight line. I do not mean, of course, that it is necessary that the strip become actually cold while in this straight-line position, but simply that it cool so much below red heat that the metal is no longer in such condition that its molecular structure or fiber will be disturbed, changed, or distorted, except by a blow or other very considerable force.

If cooled by water, I would add a water-bath between the tempering-bath and the carryingrollers, and place in it a horizontal tube connected with a suitable mechanism to keep water flowing through the said tubeas, for instance, a small rotary pump orI may simply make a connection with a water-supply pipe of any usual water system.

The flanged or grooved strip, having been properly cooled in a straight line, is next made to pass through a guide-hole in a nose, 19, mounted upon the slide-bar 19, connected by links or rods 1* with the cross-head h, and moved in unison with it. This slide-bar p has pivoted upon it a lever, 1", provided, as herein shown, with a pin, r, which enters a cam-slot,

p, in a stationary plate, 10 and with a cutter, s, which, at the proper time, is so operated by the said cam 19 as to cause the said cutter s to co-operate with a stationary but adjustable cutter, s, to sever the grooved or flanged strip at its flattened or pinched part, near the holes 7, made therein by the punch f, thereby cutting the said strip into pieces of proper length for ribs.

If stretchers are to be made, I will employ two sets of punches and dies, so as to simultaneously punch two holes in the said grooved strip at the proper distance apart to permit the strip to be severed centrally between the punched holes. 7

The shaft 2', which carries the roller 6 and the cams i, may be considered the main shaft of the machine, and a pinion on it (not shown) engages the pinion t onshaft t, which carries roller d.

A bevel-pinion, 15, on shaft '01 engages bevelpinion 16 on shaft 17, which, in turn, has bevelpinion's 18 19 that engage other bevel-pinions, 20 21, on the shafts m a each of the said shafts having a small toothed gear to engage with and drive the gears 22 23 on and which rotate theshafts m n that carry the rollers m n.

In practice the cams 7 8 will be so shaped that the punch and die are fully opened just as the cross-bar starts to move toward the grooving or flanging rollers, so as not to produce friction upon the flanged strip.

Thepunch and die, besides punching holes through the side walls of the flanged strip, also act upon the hot strip to compress the said flanges together at or near the center of the groove or channel made in the strip.

The cutter member 8 might be made to reciprocate instead of being fixed, as shown in Fig. 9. This class of grooved strip is known as paragon rib.

Instead of making the punch as so far described, it may be provided with a shoulder, as in Fig. 11, to insure that both the flanged portions of the strip be brought in central position and be equally bent or pinched together.

In Fig. 12 I have shown the ribbed part of the ribbed carrying-rollers cut away, as at 00 to permit the passage of the pinched part of the grooved strip.

In Fig. 2 the said strip, after leaving the groovin g rollers,is shown in section,the flanges of the strip pointing downward.

It is obvious by removing the flanging-rollers and using in place of them a pair of grooved rollers that the common round or square wire employed for solid ribs and stretchers may be punched and treated as herein described with relation to the paragon ribs.

I claim- 1. As an improvement in that art of producing paragon ribs that is practiced by grooving the strip or material between rollers, and then hardening and tempering it in baths, heating said strip before grooving it, in order the better to mold it to the proper shape, and holding it taut during the tempering operation, and subsequently while cooling, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. In a machine for the manufacture of paragon ribs, mechanism to groove or flange and feed forward a heated strip. of metal, as described, and compressing and punching devices and mechanism to operate the same, to compress the flanged strip and punch a hole through it, the said devices being adapted to move with the strip until it is compressed and punched, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

3. In a machine for the manufacture of paragon ribs, the following instrumentalities, viz: rollers to groove or flange the heated strip, a hardenin g an d temperin g bath, carrying-rollers to keep the grooved strip taut and in straight line while being hardened and tempered and partially cooled or set, as described, and cutting mechanism to sever the grooved and tempered strip into separate ribs, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4. In a machine for the manufacture of paragon ribs, the following instrumentalities, viz: rollers to groove or flange the heated strip, a punch and die to punch holes in the said strip, a hardening and tempering bath, carryingrollers to keep the grooved strip taut and in straight line while being hardened and tempered and partially cooled or set, as described, and cutting mechanism to sever the grooved and tempered strip into separate ribs, substantially as and for the purpose described.

5. In a machine for the manufacture of paragon ribs, the carrying-rollers to move the grooved strip, combined with the connected cross and slide bars and mechanism to move them in unison, and the punch and die and cutting devices attached to the said bars, and cams to operate them, substantially; as described.

6. The continually-moving grooving-rollers and stationary cams, combined with the punching mechanism and the cross-head and cams i, to move the said mechanism backward and forward with relation to the movement of the strip, the said cams being adapted to operate the punches to perforate the grooved strip, substantially as described.

7. The flanging-rollers d 0, combined with grooved carrying-rollers m and ribbed roller m, the rib being notched, as at 00 to permit the flanged and pinched strip to be drawn from the flanging-rollers, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHAS. H. MORGAN.

Witnesses G. W. GREGORY, N. E. WHITNEY. 

